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The revised GRE General test is scored on a scale of 130-170 (Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning tests) and 0-6 (Analytical Writing). If you took the GRE before August 1, 2011, though, your Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning scores were on a completely different scale!

So how do you compare your new out-of-170 GRE scores to the old 800 GRE scale? How does GRE score conversion work? Use our official old GRE to new GRE concordance charts for accurate conversions, plus learn the reasons you might need to convert your GRE scores from the old to new GRE scales.

Old GRE to New GRE Scores: What’s the Difference?

The scoring of the GRE General test was changed in August 2011 from the old GRE scale of 200-800 to the new GRE scale of 130-170 for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning Tests (the 0-6 scoring for the Analytical Writing Test was not changed).

These scoring changes were accompanied by significant changes to the computer-adaptive nature of the GRE: instead of having the test be adaptive on a question-by-question level, the revised GRE general test is adaptive on a section level.

Note that because it’s been more than five years since the last administration of the old test, all old GRE scores are now expired. You’ll still have earned the scores when you did, but you won’t be able to send official score reports from ETS to schools or other programs with those scores included on them.

Not even adding tiny leaves to your old GRE scores will make them look official to schools now. (Official Leaves/Flickr)

Quick side note: we've created the world's leading online GRE prep program that adapts to you and your strengths and weaknesses. Not sure what to study? Confused by how to improve your score? We give you minute by minute guide.

GRE Score Conversion Chart

The most accurate concordance tables come directly from the makers of the test, the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Below, you’ll find the most up to date Old-to-New GRE conversion tables that have been officially released.

Verbal Reasoning Concordance

Old GRE Scale

Current GRE Scale

% Rank*

800

170

99

790

170

99

780

170

99

770

170

99

760

170

99

750

169

99

740

169

99

730

168

98

720

168

98

710

167

97

700

166

96

690

165

95

680

165

95

670

164

94

660

164

94

650

163

92

640

162

90

630

162

90

620

161

87

610

160

85

600

160

85

590

159

81

580

158

79

570

158

79

560

157

74

550

156

71

540

156

71

530

155

67

520

154

63

510

154

63

500

153

59

490

152

54

480

152

54

470

151

50

460

151

50

450

150

45

440

149

41

430

149

41

420

148

37

410

147

33

400

146

29

390

146

29

380

145

25

370

144

22

360

143

18

350

143

18

340

142

16

330

141

13

320

140

10

310

139

8

300

138

7

290

137

5

280

135

3

270

134

2

260

133

1

250

132

1

240

131

1

230

130

–

220

130

–

210

130

–

200

130

–

*Percentiles calculated based on the performance of students who took the new GRE between August 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014.

Quantitative Reasoning Concordance

Old GRE Scale

Current Scale

% Rank*

800

166

92

790

164

88

780

163

86

770

161

80

760

160

78

750

159

75

740

158

71

730

157

68

720

156

64

710

155

60

700

155

60

690

154

56

680

153

52

670

152

48

660

152

48

650

151

45

640

151

45

630

150

40

620

149

37

610

149

37

600

148

32

590

148

32

580

147

28

570

147

28

560

146

25

550

146

25

540

145

21

530

145

21

520

144

18

510

144

18

500

144

18

490

143

15

480

143

15

470

142

12

460

142

12

450

141

10

440

141

10

430

141

10

420

140

8

410

140

8

400

140

8

390

139

6

380

139

6

370

138

4

360

138

4

350

138

4

340

137

3

330

137

3

320

136

2

310

136

2

300

136

2

290

135

2

280

135

2

270

134

1

260

134

1

250

133

1

240

133

1

230

132

–

220

132

–

210

131

–

200

131

–

*Percentiles calculated based on the performance of students who took the new GRE between August 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014.

Limits of Old GRE to New GRE Conversion

ETS has issued a couple of caveats about using these GRE score conversion charts. Because the old GRE has 61 different possible score points (200-800, 10 point increments) while the current GRE has only 41 possible score points (130-170, 1 point increments), there are some instances where multiple different scores on the old GRE concord to the same score on the new GRE.

In addition to this logistical issue, ETS warns that evaluating the Quantitative Reasoning scores for the old GRE requires “special care.” An 800/800 Quantitative Reasoning score on the old GRE only converts to a 166/170 Quantitative Reasoning score on the new GRE. Admissions officers or other “score users,” however, are encouraged to consider that “test takers who took the prior test and received an 800 on the Quantitative Reasoning measure, received the highest score possible that they were able to earn on the measure.”

Therefore, students who scored a 170 on the new GRE Quantitative Reasoning section aren’t necessarily better or smarter than students who scored 800 on the old GRE Quantitative Reasoning section; it’s just that the tests were different and the old scoring didn’t allow as much nuance for distinguishing between “higher ability test takers.”

Finally, the old GRE and new GRE had different methods of adapting the questions to your performance. In the old GRE, you couldn’t skip questions and come back to them – you had to answer every single question before proceeding to the next one. This means the old GRE required different test-taking strategies from other tests. Thus, strong performers on the old GRE might not have been as strong on the new GRE, and vice versa.

How Can GRE Score Conversion Help You?

Now that you know how to convert your score from the old GRE to new GRE, what should you do with this information?

If you took the GRE before July 1, 2011, the main use of these GRE score conversion tables is that it gives you a rough idea of how you’d do on the current test. However, it’s not just the scaling that’s changed on the GRE – the format has also changed a little bit – so it’s not necessarily the most accurate picture of how you’d score were you to take the GRE now.

The Quantitative Reasoning test difficulty level has remained relatively constant over time, as you can see from the percentile scores – a 71st percentile score on the Quantitative Reasoning section requires a 158/170 or a 740/800, which are roughly equivalent (158/170 = 0.929, 740/800 = 0.925). The main scoring change is that getting a perfect score on the Quantitative Reasoning section now is harder than it was to get a perfect score on the old GRE Quantitative Reasoning section because the GRE scoring has changed to allow more differentiation between the very high scoring students, not because the Quantitative Reasoning section has become more difficult OVERALL.

By contrast, based on score trends, the Verbal Reasoning test seems to have decreased in difficulty. A 71st percentile score on the Verbal Reasoning section requires a 156 out of 180 on the new GRE, or a 540 to 550 out of 800 on the old GRE. These two scores are not equivalent: 156/180 = 0.866, while 540/800 = 0.675 and 550/800 = 0.689. Since 550/800 < 158/170, this means that you needed fewer points on the old GRE Verbal Reasoning test (550/800) than you would on the new GRE Verbal Reasoning test (158/170) to get the equivalent percentile rank.

What does this all mean? You could get away with scoring fewer points before, relative to the highest possible score, and still get an equally high percentile. Therefore, the fact that you now need more points on the GRE Verbal Reasoning test to get the same percentile means that that test has gotten easier overall.

So to some degree, test takers who took the old GRE can estimate that if they took the new GRE without any preparation, they’d get about the same score on the new GRE Quantitative Reasoning and a “better” score on the GRE Verbal Reasoning (although your percentile rank should remain fairly stable). For the best estimate of your current GRE score, though, you’ll need to take an official GRE practice test.

If you took the test after August 1, 2011, the main use of the GRE score conversion tables is for you to compare how your scores stack up against requirements for programs or fellowships that haven’t yet converted their requirements to the new score format yet. Relatively few programs will ask you to convert your new, out-of-170 GRE scores back to the old GRE score system, but there are definitely still some out there that haven’t yet updated their average or minimum required scores.

They also still have this old calendar hanging up from August 2011. But to be fair, that’s a pretty great picture. August 2011/Used under CC BY 2.0/cropped from original.

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Author: Laura Staffaroni

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel and fulfill their college and grad school dreams.
View all posts by Laura Staffaroni